I've been absent for a long time, I know. The reason? I got promoted at the day job, which led to no time for writing. In November of 2016, I managed to write three days in a row toward Book 4, and it's still percolating in the back of my brain, but work obligations have taken the primary spot.

So, Zamani is already available on a few torrent sites. If you download the book for free from one of those sites, can you be so kind as to go to Amazon and review the book? I realize that there is no point in being angry about torrents or people passing copies of my work around. In some ways it is flattering to think that the "seed" reader thought it was good enough to share with their torrent-buddies.

But, if you are getting free reads, why not give the author some love with a review? It costs you nothing to leave a review (beyond a bit of time), and I'd really appreciate it.

After all, it takes me two years to complete a new book in the series, mainly because I have a day job that pays the actual bills. If more folks will talk about my books--even when they get them free--the likelihood more folks will pick them up and read them goes up.

Which means that I can then dedicate more time and energy to writing more books for you to share on torrents, right?

In preparation of the release on 4/29/16 of Zamani, I'm running Kindle countdown deals Friday 4/15 and Saturday 4/16. $0.99 each for Blood Sisters and Brigitte's Cross Friday and $1.99 each on Saturday.

If you use the Kindle App or have a Kindle e-reader, you can download and read the short (very short) vignette that starts Zamani. Here's the Kindle version--download it and transfer it to your Kindle.

We're a month out from the official launch of the third book in the Olivia Chronicles, Zamani. All of my readers have provided their feedback, and I'm really excited to release this book. I do read reviews, although I do not tend to respond to them. For that one reader who was sad that Olivia was not the focus of Brigitte's Cross, I want to say that hopefully you'll get a little more insight into her character and past.

This book covers the same time period as the second book in the series, but Alex is back. I can say that without it really being a spoiler. If revealing that here means someone's not going to read the book, the blurb/synopsis would knock them out of reading it anyway. This book also plays into the connections with Stoker's novel, as well, so fans of "Van Helsing's Lament" will hopefully enjoy that emphasis.

The release date is set for 4/29, which is also the Voudou holiday of Cassé Canari. In order to free the dead, Haitian Voudou practitioners ceremonially break jugs, delivering souls of the dead from purgatory. Not surprisingly, April 30th is the Mange le Morts, or feeding of the dead. If the calendar is seen as a wheel of time, Casse Canarie and Mange le Morts are opposite of Halloween and All Souls Day/Dia de los Muertos.

The gros/bon/ange may be separated from the body even during the lifetime, and stored in a bottle, as a kind of isolation from malevolent forces. At the Canzo ceremony--the ceremony of initiation or spiritual birth--the gros/bon/ange is placed in a canari (clay pot) or a pot/de/tete (receptacle for the "head," soul or mind) and left in the care of a houngan or some trustworthy person. At death this pot/de/tete is broken, to release the gros/bon/ange to the waters of the abyss; but one year later, the receptacle is replaced, as the moment of reclamation, by the govi, in which the soul, now referred to as an esprit, is lodged once more and which is as a throat, making speech possible . . . the ti/bon/ange. . . is automatically liberated at the moment of death and hovers over the body for nine days before ascending to heaven. . . .If during life it is placed in a receptacle, a canari, or pot/de/tete, and if that receptacle is then stolen so that magic may be exercised upon the body through the gros/bon/ange, the person cannot die until the two are reunited.

Of course, as you know from Brigitte's Cross, Alex's ashes are not held in a red clay pot, but I'm sure you get the connection.

If there is interest, I may offer signed copies of paperbacks again this round. The cover of Brigitte's Cross got an update and currently all three covers are glossy in finish. I don't do mailing lists (I personally am on a couple of writers' email lists and abhor getting emails from people daily, for instance. Why would I do that to you?) so if you want to stay on top of what's going on with the series, feel free to keep up here or on the Facebook page.

Today is the month ahead date of the release of book 3 in the series: Zamani. You can pre-order now!

I am working on the paperback version, as well, and plan to release the two editions at the same time. For those who wanted more Olivia in Brigiitte's Cross, you'll get more here, but you will also meet some new characters. This third book delves more deeply into the connections to Stoker's novel, and Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker both make appearances.

The video above is a bit of a teaser. If you want to know what Smoky Mary has to do with Olivia Holmwood, you'll have to check out Zamani, which is coming to your Kindles soon.

If you're interested in an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) in Kindle format (mobi), contact me by the end of the week and I'll see to it. My hope would be if you're interested in an ARC that you might be willing to write a blurb I can use in my book description once the book is ready to roll out to buyers on Amazon & CreateSpace. To contact me directly, click the email symbol in the upper righthand corner (if you want to copy and paste the address it is angelicrodgers@gmail.com ). To get my attention, put ARC request in the subject line, please.

I just wrapped up my latest round of edits and revisions and I'm excited to hear what readers think! I have yet to set a release date, but hope to soon.

In preparation for the publication of Zamani, I returned to Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program, which means that all e-copies are exclusive to Amazon. So, if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can get caught up on the series before Book 3 hits the virtual shelves!

I have been whining that I want to finish the third installment, but honestly, I know how it ends. I am just dragging my feet. So, if you're interested in being a beta reader, email me (click the little envelope icon in the upper right corner).

Here's what I will reveal--this book covers the same span of time as Book 2 , Brigitte's Cross, does--just from other characters' points of view. There are some new characters here, as well, that make the Dracula cross over more evident. I have enjoyed working on it, and I hope you enjoy it, too--it's always a daunting task to send your little book baby out into the world.

Angelic lives in Kansas City, Missouri with her wife, two loyal dogs, and two rotten cats. When she's not writing, she's likely walking the dogs, working on her food blog, or working her day job. Like her friend and fellow writer Joseph S. Walker, she's a "recovering academic."She's currently working on the third book in The Olivia Chronicles, as well as some various short story projects. You can keep up with her at www.oliviachronicles.com/blog on Facebook at The Olivia Chronicles, or on Twitter @drangelic